Torn
by drabbler
Summary: Jake is torn between his duties as a witch hunter and a growing...something for Cassie. Cassie is torn between Jake and Adam. Adam is torn between Cassie and Diana. Who knows how this will all turn out?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not the characters, not the plot, nothing.

Note: This story takes place just after episode six: Wake. It may or may not incorporate later episodes.

Cassie Blake lay flat on her back in bed trying in vain to count the stars. It was not working tonight. Her mind just kept returning to the scene she had walked into earlier that evening at the docks near the Boathouse - Jake arguing with that woman, Jake walking away, the woman attacking him and pulling out a knife. Cassie knew she did the right thing in using the crystal. She couldn't let that woman kill her newest Circle member, but she was would be lying if she said she was okay with the mysterious woman's death. As much as she tried to tell herself "better her than Jake or me," it just didn't sit right. She was so shocked that she had let Jake deal with the body alone. Not that she wanted to 'deal' with a body, but maybe she should have stayed and helped Jake out. And on top of everything Diana had come over all broken up about dumping Adam. Cassie had never managed to get a straight answer out of her as to why she did it, just that Adam was not to blame. Cassie let out a groan of frustration and tried once again to concentrate on falling asleep.

Jake was shaken up by his meeting with Marco, the leader of the witch hunters. Marco had taken great care to impress upon Jake the precariousness of his position as a witch trying to make his way among the very people who have sworn to hunt down and kill every one of his kind. Simone had not been alone among Marco's lackeys who objected to having a witch in their ranks. It had taken all of Jake's wits and strength to survive long enough to meet Marco and form an alliance with him. Some alliance this was. Their relationship was one of master and servant, not of equals, and Marco liked to remind everyone who exactly was the master. Jake stretched out his arms, examining the bruises Marco's men left on his body. They went easier on him this time because he needed to look presentable to blend in in Chance Harbor, but his sides still ached from the beating. He still wasn't sure why he killed Simone. Sure, she came at him with a blade, but she wasn't the first to do so. All he knew for sure was the depth of his desperation to stop Simone from killing the new girl, Cassie. When he followed her screams the other night, he couldn't help himself. He had to save her. It was the strangest thing, he had only just met her, but he needed to protect her. She was practically the only person in town who treated him like a human being, and he liked that. He found himself in Nick's room, staring out the window into Cassie's bedroom. How on earth was he going to be able to kill her?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own The Secret Circle.

Cassie looked at the clock for the third time in as many minutes. When she entered the cafeteria twenty minutes ago, Diana looked so depressed sitting all alone at the table furthest form the one she usually sat at with Adam that Cassie felt obligated to go sit with her. By then she had heard the cause of their break up from Adam. Apparently, Adam's father had told Diana the same destiny crap he spun for Cassie, only Diana bought into it. All Cassie wanted to do was make Diana feel better, but Diana would not hear a word from her about Adam. Cassie didn't know what to say. The two of them had been sitting in silence for several minutes now. Every so often Diana would open her mouth to say something, and then snap it shut. Cassie decided to give it one more shot before the bell rang for class.

"Diana-"

"Don't start Cassie. I see the way Adam looks at you, the way Adam gets jealous when he sees you with Jake, and I'm removing myself from the equation."

"Diana, there is nothing going on between Adam and I, and there is no way I'm starting anything just because you have some crazy destiny idea stuck in your head."

"Oh come on Cassie, don't think I don't see the way you look at Adam sometimes. Just go over there and ask- ask him out already!"

Diana looked so miserable when she said this that Cassie had to respond, "No! Diana, you are my friend and I won't do that to you and neither will Adam."

"Try all you want Cassie, but you can't fight destiny," Diana bitterly replied.

"Enough with the destiny!" Cassie whispered back. "Look, you still love Adam, right? Right?"

Cassie stared Diana down until the girl dropped her eyes in a small, defeated nod.

"Then you can't end it just because someone is spouting some 'written in the stars' mumbo-jumbo."

"You don't know it isn't true," Diana replied in a small voice.

"We also don't know it is true. Now you go over there and clear this thing up with Adam. He is just as upset about this as you are, maybe more. Go put the poor boy out of his misery."

Whatever else she was, Diana was stubborn. She believed that breaking up with Adam was the right thing to do, and she wouldn't let anyone change her mind.

"I – I can't" With that Diana left the table, hurrying to the door.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cassie saw Adam moving towards her. The bell saved her from having to deal with him too.

She was not so lucky after her last class. She found Adam leaning up against her locker looking determined.

"Cassie!"

"What, Adam?"

"What did Diana say to you at lunch?"

"Look Adam, I'm not going to be your go-between. You two need to talk." Cassie closed her locker and headed down the hall. Adam followed her.

"She won't talk to me! Please, Cassie! I don't know how I screwed this up!"

"I just can't talk to you about this," she said as she hurried out of the school and into the parking lot. She just couldn't deal with Adam right now. Adam who made her heart beat faster just by his proximity. Adam who was so kind to her. Adam who obviously still cared about Diana, the girl who was pretty much her best friend in this strange town. She couldn't let anyone know how appealing Diana's earlier suggestion had been to her. Diana was too good, too kind, too welcoming to betray in such a cruel way. As Adam continued to follow her across the parking lot, Cassie repeated Diana's name in her head like a mantra. Diana. Diana. Diana.

Jake sat in his car in the Chance Harbor High School parking lot fiddling with a knife and waiting for Cassie to emerge. He could do it. He would do it. He would kill Cassie Blake and her little Circle to avenge his family. At the thought of his family, Jake's mind turned to his last encounter with Nick. It was the morning of the day he ran away. He had gotten in late the night before and was in no mood to tolerate his younger brother's chipper mood. Nick was excited about some girl, but he was excited in a patently Nick way. No one else would have had a clue Nick was jazzed about anything. Nick always played his true emotions close to the vest, hiding them under a veneer of nonchalance and studied boredom. Jake imagined that he was probably the only person in the world who knew Nick well enough to know how he was feeling. Just the slightest tension in his otherwise slouched posture and the way his hands were perfectly still gave Nick away to his older brother. Jake smiled to himself despite his grouchy mood. Nick was always so predictable, so dependable, such a good kid. Jake loved him more than anyone. He loved Nick even though Nick refused to be seen with his trouble-making brother in public. He was proud of Nick for choosing better influences than his screw-up brother. Nick was the only person Jake loved, the only reason he had stayed in Chance Harbor as long as he had. But he had left. And now Nick was dead. And Jake had to look in the mirror every day and remember that for all he loved his brother, he had never shown him affection. Having grown up with no parents and his distant aunt, Jake was so unused to affection that he was uncomfortable with the idea of it. Like Nick, Jake kept his emotions well hidden. So well hidden that Nick never knew how much he meant to his brother, and now he would never know. Jake blamed himself for many things: for leaving Nick, for not being a good enough brother, for not being there when Nick discovered his power, for never letting Nick know he was loved, but Marco had guided Jake to place the blame for Nick's death where it belonged - with Nick's Circle. They were the ones who got Nick involved in witchcraft. They were the ones who got Nick deep into something none of them understood the consequences of. They were the ones who brought danger into Nick's life. They were the ones who claimed to be his friends. They were the ones who failed Nick when he needed them most. Marco was right, they deserved what was coming to them. Cassie had to be taken out first. As the Blake in the group, she was the most powerful, the most dangerous.

She was exiting the school right now. He would do it. He would kill her. Now. He just had to get her away from watching eyes. Jake quickly got out of his car and headed towards her. Cassie looked distraught as she kept trying to walk away from Adam. Jake found he didn't like to see Adam bothering Cassie. Were those tears welling in her eyes? Just then Cassie spotted Jake, and her whole face lit up. She looked so happy to see him that Jake stopped dead in his tracks. No one ever looked at him like that. He was not the kind of person people were happy to see. Then Adam reached out and grabbed Cassie by the arm, causing her to stop and swing around to face him. She let out a slight cry of pain. That was all Jake needed. He stormed up to the pair.

"Back off Adam."

Shocked, Adam let go of Cassie and took a step back. In a second he had regained his composure, "What do you want?" he sneered.

"Just to check in with my new best friend Cassie," he said with a smug look on his face as he placed an arm around Cassie's shoulders. "Would you like a ride?" he asked her.

Much to Adam's displeasure Cassie agreed and the two walked off in the direction of Jake's car. As much as she relished the warmth and weight of Jake's arm on her shoulder, she felt she had to say something. "What's the deal with the arm, Jake?"

"Just wanted to piss off Adam," he replied.

"Jake!" Cassie admonished halfheartedly. She told herself that she was going along with this because she was annoyed at Adam, but she couldn't even lie convincingly to herself. She liked the way Jake held her to his side as if he needed her there.

Jake was much better at lying to himself. He was not doing this because Cassie had wormed her way into his heart. He was not doing this because it felt good to be near her, to touch her. He was not doing this because the way she fit under his arm felt right. No. He was only doing this to lull her into a false sense of security so he could - at that moment Cassie smiled up at him. Her smile reached her delightful eyes and he knew he wasn't going to kill her. He continued staring down at Cassie in awe until they reached the car. When she left him to go to the passenger's side door images of Nick came flooding back. Nick, his little brother, the person he was supposed to protect, dead. He couldn't betray Nick's memory now. Not after he had abandoned him to these people and his death. He owed Nick so much more than to let a pretty smile distract him from claiming justice for Nick.


End file.
